Photolithography (also optical lithography) is a process used in semiconductor microfabrication to selectively remove parts of a thin film or the bulk of a substrate. Photolithography typically uses light to transfer a geometric pattern from a photomask to a light-sensitive photoresist on substrate. A series of chemical treatments then engraves the exposure pattern into the material underneath the photoresist. In some complex integrated circuits, such as modern Complementary metal-oxides semiconductor (CMOS), a semiconductor wafer will go through the photolithographic cycle as many as fifty times. Using photolithography to form high-density patterns often requires particularized surfaces, such as extremely flat surfaces that are insensitive to elevated temperatures, due to process requirements and tolerance constraints.